Top 5 greatest bands of all time

[Nilsi]

35 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

The solos in this song at 4:07, along with the solos from The Mammy Anthem and I'm The Slime from the same album, are definitely my favorites:

It's all live as well, and everything sounds so good. He probably had the tightest rock band in the world from the mid 70s to the early 80s.

 

37 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

 

So nostalgic too. I remember listening to this in the car when I was around 7 years old, just floating away into a different universe.

 

Good shit. I really have to do a deep dive into Zappa's discography, I've barely scratched the surface so far.

That sounds pretty fucking sweet

[AtheisticNonduality]

This song was burned into my brain in 2020. Could probably hallucinate it if I wanted to.

But anyway, people that worship guitar like it's some kind of sacred object need to be slapped.

People that highly praise bands just because they're well known also need to be slapped.

I cannot make a list of the best bands simply because all of them without exception have flaws, usually major flaws, so there are no "perfect" bands to worship either.

[Nilsi]

3 minutes ago, AtheisticNonduality said:

I cannot make a list of the best bands simply because all of them without exception have flaws, usually major flaws, so there are no "perfect" bands to worship either.

I get not wanting to rank bands, but that is a meaningless argument.

[Carl-Richard]

2 minutes ago, AtheisticNonduality said:

But anyway, people that worship guitar like it's some kind of sacred object need to be slapped.

Nah, I worship the keyboard 

7:27

 

13 minutes ago, AtheisticNonduality said:

People that highly praise bands just because they're well known also need to be slapped.

If you're trying to make an objective list of "the greatest bands on earth", you should at least try to stretch beyond your limited knowledge, at least tastes.

[AtheisticNonduality]

18 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

If you're trying to make an objective list of "the greatest bands on earth", you should at least try to stretch beyond your limited knowledge, at least tastes.

This ignores the importance of the higher intelligence individuals which supersede the collective.

And if we're making an objective list beyond limited knowledge, it's impossible because the best bands statistically speaking are unheard of, even by me most likely (with probable exceptions).

30 minutes ago, Nilsi said:

I get not wanting to rank bands, but that is a meaningless argument.

Nope, all of the bands you listed I could classify as too flawed to be praiseworthy, hence why such a list is bad.

[Nilsi]

3 minutes ago, AtheisticNonduality said:

And if we're making an objective list beyond limited knowledge, it's impossible because the best bands statistically speaking are unheard of, even by me most likely (with probable exceptions).

I completely disagree. In my experience, the most acclaimed bands are actually the best bands. Call me vanilla, but that's just what it is.

[AtheisticNonduality]

8 minutes ago, Nilsi said:

I completely disagree. In my experience, the most acclaimed bands are actually the best bands. Call me vanilla, but that's just what it is.

How much music have you listened to?

[Carl-Richard]

2 hours ago, AtheisticNonduality said:

This ignores the importance of the higher intelligence individuals which supersede the collective.

And if we're making an objective list beyond limited knowledge, it's impossible because the best bands statistically speaking are unheard of, even by me most likely (with probable exceptions).

Nope, all of the bands you listed I could classify as too flawed to be praiseworthy, hence why such a list is bad.

I think "greatest band" is not equal to "best band". The latter has too many elitist connotations, things like technical ability, music theory, etc. I think "greatest band" includes various  "best" things, but also various other more shallow things, like fame, image or catchiness. It also is more receptive to the hard-to-quantify aspects of music, like "soul" or "chemistry", which can also apply to the band as a whole, not just say a guitarist's playing style. I think Led Zeppelin and Tool are both great examples of those things.

If I were to take the elitist route, I would say Frank Zappa without a doubt. His musical ability and creativity was unmatched. He wrote and performed all styles of music: jazz, hard rock, fusion, prog rock, pop, punk, blues, R&B, doo-wop, rap, orchestral music, avant-garde. He also released more albums than anyone before him, improvised all his guitar solos, utilized polyrhythms and nested tuplets (dafuq?), treated his band as if he were an orchestral conductor, basically invented the idea of a concept album (or the rock opera).

Edited September 17, 2022 by Carl-Richard

[AtheisticNonduality]

@Carl-Richard Well for the most part . . .

Guitarists are dumb. ???

[Carl-Richard]

50 minutes ago, AtheisticNonduality said:

@Carl-Richard Well for the most part . . .

Guitarists are dumb. ???

Well, Zappa started out playing drums, wrote orchestral pieces when he was 14, and had an IQ of 170

[AtheisticNonduality]

15 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

had an IQ of 170

What evidence is there for this? And I thought this guy was some anti-conformist "radical" that wouldn't like such demeaning measurement in the first place and wouldn't be subjected to it.

[Carl-Richard]

5 minutes ago, AtheisticNonduality said:

What evidence is there for this? And I thought this guy was some anti-conformist "radical" that wouldn't like such demeaning measurement in the first place and wouldn't be subjected to it.

172 to be exact. It's probably just an estimate by some nobody. It makes sense though if you watch his interviews, or the PMRC senate hearing (regarding the issue of whether certain types of offensive rock lyrics should warrant a parental advisory sticker on the album):

 

[AtheisticNonduality]

19 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

172 to be exact. It's probably just an estimate by some nobody. It makes sense though if you watch his interviews, or the PMRC senate hearing (regarding the issue of whether certain types of offensive rock lyrics should warrant a parental advisory sticker on the album):

 

Yeah, just like Beethoven had an IQ of 200! And George Washington had an IQ of 180!

. . .

Anyway if we're judging musicians by unsubstantiated IQ estimates, Jaz Coleman from Killing Joke has an IQ of over 190! 

[Carl-Richard]

@AtheisticNonduality

Hmm... are you fine with saying he is smarter than average? What about very smart? What about genius? If you're fine with those categories, you could easily map them onto a metric system like IQ and say that "average" is around 100 IQ, "smarter than average" is around 120, "very smart" is around 140, and "genius" is 160+. I mean, you MBTI guys prefer using your own logical analysis over statistical tests anyway ;D

Btw, my statistics knowledge is going to increase over these two next semesters. Be prepared for a less pseudo-intellectual version of the FiTe monster >:)

[Mulky]

R.E.M.

Fleet Foxes

MGMT

David Bowie

Pixies

I think R.E.M is the most underrated band of all time.  Not because people don't think they're good, but because not many people would say they are the best band of all time.  They are the kind of band somehow you sleep on.  You never really connected the dots that you like about 50 songs by this band.  

 

 

[Roy]

From all the music I've heard in my entire life (29 years old), if some expert critics put a gun to my head and told me to name 5 bands to convince them not to kill me I'd say (no particular order);

Queen, Tool, Oasis, The Police, Bob Dylan

Queen has a combination of the most unique, recognizable, and distinct music ever. Though they are not my personal favorite, I think they are probably objectively the greatest band of all time, and I think many would agree. Freddy Mercury is an icon.

Tool is just something else man. The fans are super cringe and annoying af, but if you can ignore that and just strictly focus on the music you won't really find guys that do it better. It's layered, complex, intense, and mind blowingly amazing. Sometimes I actually can't listen to it repeatedly because it's too much. It's like rich chocolate, but instead of overwhelming your mouth it overwhelms your brain.

Oasis, well they just knew how to write fucking songs. Catchy, classic, not over polished. Their first few albums are just stupid with the amount of hits they had. They completely dominated the 90's. They also wrote one of the greatest songs of all time in "Wonderwall".

The Police. I'm not a huge fan of pre-90s music in general, but these guys stick out like a diamond. Just search "The Police" in YouTube and look at the list of hits! You've heard them all. You love them, everyone loves them.

Bob Dylan. One of the greatest American poets and songwriters ever. His impact on music and culture can't be overstated. He was (is) also woke decades before it was cool.

I recommend everyone listen to this song and read the lyrics carefully while doing so. Incredible story telling.

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by Roy

[Nilsi]

13 hours ago, AtheisticNonduality said:

How much music have you listened to?

A LOT. I'll admit that I haven't dove deeply into extremely obscure genres and Bandcamp type music, but from all I have heard so far in my life, it's obvious to me that the best musicians and bands (unless they really resist it) will get upregulated and become well known and acclaimed.

For what it's worth, I used to be a music producer and knew some pretty big fish in the industry, so I know how this shit works to some degree. Unless you're a complete fool or some anti-capitalist ideologue, you will become famous, if you really are that great.

Edited September 18, 2022 by Nilsi

[AtheisticNonduality]

1 hour ago, Nilsi said:

For what it's worth, I used to be a music producer and knew some pretty big fish in the industry, so I know how this shit works to some degree. Unless you're a complete fool or some anti-capitalist ideologue, you will become famous, if you really are that great.

Someone that becomes famous most of the time will be base and average enough to appeal to base and average people.

[Nilsi]

30 minutes ago, AtheisticNonduality said:

Someone that becomes famous most of the time will be base and average enough to appeal to base and average people.

Yes, that's not my point though. I'm not saying all famous musicians are great, I'm saying roughly all great musicians are famous.

[AtheisticNonduality]

30 minutes ago, Nilsi said:

Yes, that's not my point though. I'm not saying all famous musicians are great, I'm saying roughly all great musicians are famous.

I'm saying most great musicians are semi-famous, because being actually famous requires the famous action of "selling out" or being an average basic band for the masses.